BANGLADESH INSTITUTE OF INTERNATIONAL AND STRATEGIC STUDIES

VIOLENCE AND ATROCITY-LED DISPLACEMENT AND POTENTIAL OF INTOLERANCE IN THE DESTINATION PLACE: ROHINGYA EXODUS FROM MYANMAR TO BANGLADESH

Author: Md Touhidul Islam Tanzina Rahman

DOI Link: https://www.doi.org/10.56888/BIISSj2023v44n4a2

ABSTRACT

Violence and atrocity committed by any country or actor for any reason force many innocent people to cross the border to save lives, as displaced Rohingyas, the Forcefully Displaced Myanmar Nationals (FDMNs), did in 2017. Drawing on host community data collected through micro-narratives, interviews, FGDs, and wider secondary sources, this study examines the extent to which genocidal violence faced by the Rohingyas in Myanmar and their subsequent influx into Bangladesh has caused potential of intolerance in the host communities. This paper develops a five-staged pyramid model of host-refugee relations and argues that when the locals cannot afford the adverse effects of refugees that gradually endangers their relations and creates potential conditions for intolerance. The inauspicious effects of the 2017 Rohingya influx developed a local reserved perception towards the FDMNs, which has been far different from the initial generous position. To a great extent, the actions of many, of course not of all Rohingyas, like engaging in criminal, aggressive, and unlawful activities, are as responsible as new evolving security challenges exacerbated by other realities created by different armed groups and entities. Those actions have created a restrained perception of them and forced the locals to maintain as much distance as possible from them. The locals also felt a sense of deprivation generated by service providers. Therefore, narratives of difference have developed against them, while the locals live in anxiety and tension. No largescale violence happened between them due to the active roles of the state and its agencies; yet, when the very survival of locals and entities feel threatened, no one can rule out the potential of further complicated condition. Therefore, the concerned stakeholders, including the state and international community, must re-strategise to meet the needs of local people and develop a locally based joint early warning system to detect and prevent any unwanted situation.